Festival of Ghosts
by EcrivainE
Summary: Post Apocalyptic AU, A Naruto from a war torn future must rewrite the ravages of time. However, fate is such a dangerous wire to balance on. Can a man haunted by his own demons save the one's he loves from their own?


**Hello, I don't claim to own Naruto. This story was inspired by one I read a long time ago, this will not be an exercise in plagiarism.**

**However ,if certain things seem similar to other stories please keep in mind I have read A LOT of fanfiction.**

**Thank you for reading, I sincerely hope you enjoy my first story :)**

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><p><strong>Lighting<strong> cracked against the sky following loud booms, turning the sky violet, highlighting the remains of a decaying village before surrendering it back into darkness. A lone androgynous shape lumbered along a desolate street, dark gray hood sheltering a head from the rain. Their steps echoed loudly, heightened by the sound of shoes sloshing through standing water. Rain collected in the puddles on the roofs of houses lining the street of a once prosperous residential area. Now only the skeletons stood, some buildings half destroyed, their insides barred as if they were life sized doll houses. Others could not be called houses at all, but mere foundations, roofs caved in and vines having overtaken them long ago.

Moving past an alley way the cloaked figure attracted the attention of beady yellow eyes. Creatures hiss and spit from their dwellings, paws swiping with extended claws, narrow faces splitting, showing white teeth and pink tongues. Starvation, a constant companion to people and animals alike, had stretched their skin tight against their bones, some strays even possessed frayed collars faded from age (remnants from a wealthier time). They continued to stare before a noise drew them back towards the insides of the alley . The disturbance came from a pack of wild dogs which fought over the remains of one small puppy.

Yet the figure continued on, undeterred by the macabre scene. The destroyed houses had been in such condition for several summers. After the residential had been obliterated it only stood to reason the pets would live on the streets. There were times when most people could not afford food, much less give some to 'fluffy' or 'spot'. The realities stretched far from only one small section of town, and instead spread through the entirety of the village.

Exhibit A, the market place. arriving at their destination the figure surveyed the surviving infrastructures. The village had just fended off another attack, the remains of battle still lingering in the streets. Windows braced by wooden boards, as if it would do any good, lights long extinguished, and doors firmly locked. Some places were only charred remains, and others still showed blood stains when revealed by lighting. For a while now, the village had been subject to harsh curfews, the cloaked being existed as the sole entity on the deserted street.

A small crackling noise swirl of leaves was the only warning:

Quickly, spinning on a heel the cloaked figure lashed out, wrapping a hand firmly around the throat of the suddenly appearing person. The figure slammed the against a close wall, the attacking hand holding a small kunai blade that bit into the flesh of the mysterious man's neck.

"Fuck man! Calm down jeeze," the young man cried, long brown hair falling into his face," It's not like you didn't sense me coming from a mile away." The man was of impressive height, only more pronounced by the way the figure held him from the ground.

"Someone might think you are going soft, a good ninja wouldn't need permission to escape," a voice stated from under the hood, before releasing the man known as Kiba, letting him crumple to the floor.

Kiba barked out a harsh laugh," Not everyone can be their own fucking army of one, Naruto." Kiba brought a clawed hand up to rub absently at his throat, "what you doin' out here in the Damn boonies."

Naruto simply shook his head, removing his hood as the rain began abating," I figured it was lovely time of night for a walk." Dirty hair fell in the way of a single blue eye set in a scarred face which flickered briefly into a smile before Naruto looked imploringly at Kiba's injuries ," It's good to see you back at home base, but I know your brief little fornication with the wall didn't give you that broken arm." Looking serisouly at Kiba he questioned,"Were you able to get the scroll?" Naruto asked tensely,

Kiba winced slightly before standing a little straighter,"It went sour but yeah, yeah I was able to bring it back." He looked down saddly before perking back up," anyway, I was just heading to the Hokage tower to file the report, I saw you along the way and wanted to say hi."

"To say hi?" Naruto raised an increduclous eyebrow,"are you going to ask about the weather next? I think there might be a chance of rain," he said shaking excess rain off his coat for emphasis.

"No, but I think when you come into some spare time we should maybe hang out, get a few drinks or something."

Naruto looked at him blankly, "if you have such time to waste, you should see to your injuries instead of asking me out on a date"

" Askin' ya- I'd never-man you're crazy," Kiba spluttered, coughing into his hand to hide his embarrassment. He looked away from his friend, biting his lip while looking aside ," there's just so few of us ya' know, we need to relax more or we'll all go bats hit around here."

"I'll rest when the war is won."

Wilting Kiba looked at the ground dejectedly.

Somberly Naruto stared at the mute ninja, comtemplating something before finally asking, "Where is Tenten Kiba, I didn't sense her coming in with you."

If he was dejected before, Kiba now was completely devestated. Tensing,His breath subtly began to slow as sucked and held it in, a look of horror flitting past his face, "The mission wasn't graded properly, we were able to get in but she stayed back for cover, I wasn't able-," he began to ramble.

The blonde held up a hand looking away, a brief look of anguish washing over his face before disappearing just as quickly. He said nothing extra to Kiba merely waving his hand," You should save the rest of your report for the Hokage captain," Naruto said, addressing Kiba's title. "Something like what you have to say should only have to be said once."

Kiba started, looking at Naruto nervously, noticing the steel in his voice," General-"

"you are dismissed," Naruto said with a tone of finality.

The Brown haired man nodded mutely before moving to leave.

"Kiba," the man in question stopped mid leap and faced his commanding officer,"when we get some down time, those drinks sound like a good idea," Kiba gave a grin in response before disappearing as swiftly as he came.

Now left alone Naruto sighed wearily, walking towards the dim light of a singular lamp post. He let his body rest against the pole. The pressure dug into the place between his shoulder blades, helping release some of the tension he suffered from the recent back to back missions all of Konoha's nin been suffering.

He was tired, so damn tired of everything. Without the hood he looked to be a man of 35 years old. However the scars that littered his face, and the patches of stubble along his jaw made him look older than anyone would have been able to guess. Before the war he had been an attractive man, ardent blue eyes and luxurious blonde hair, accompanied by a natural skin kissed by the sun itself. However, missions followed by a never ending war coated his skin in marks and brutalities. Each jagged line, flayed pieces of skin, and missing bits served as reminders of near misses and absolute failures.

Using his one arm he unclasped the latch of the cloak throwing it to the ground, the fabric submerging into a puddle. The body revealed was pale and torn, only a fishnet shirt and vest clothed the form. Absently Naruto rubbed at the nub where his left arm should have existed. As a rule of thumb, Naruto refused to look at it, not out of disgust at the missing appendage, but out of avoidance of what it symbolized.

He had lost so many parts of himself as the war progressed until literally only half of him remained. The left side of his body acting as a calendar, the worst it became in appearance the longer the war had dragged on. The Extraction of Kyuubi allowed for Kunai to sink further and deeper, ninja wire bite harder, and jutsu to linger and torment even after the initial affects stopped. Yet in true Uzumaki fashion he persisted. In his hard headed need to survive he had been tested, constantly thrown into battle after pointless battle. Even after Kyuubi had been ripped from him, he was still the prized fighter the Hokage loved to call on. Because each time, no matter the odds, he _won,_ almost by blind determination and balls alone he stood each time and _won_ only now...

It was getting harder to remember what living felt like. Naruto never cared about the scars he had externally, because they never could equate to what he felt internally.

Tenten was not the first comrade to die.

Digging into the breast of his vest pockets he pulled out a carton of cigarettes. It was a dirty habit he inherited from a friend, but over time the smoke which curled to lie in his lungs offered him brief illusions of warmth even in the long stretches of cold.

Another flash of lighting illuminated his sardonic smile curling around the cigarette, using a quick kanton Naruto balanced a small flame on his thumb before lighting the stick. Looking down the street he could briefly imagine it crowed with people, however the memory was so distant all he could conjure up were ghosts who dragged themselves sluggishly into abandoned buildings, avoiding the storm. Letting the last bit of rain fall Naruto grabbed a Kunai from his back pocket, flipping it so he held the blade instead of the handle.

He squeezed until blood pored from his fist, placing the kunai aside he squatted in front of the decaying road. Fingers began dancing in the grime, drawing patterns and symbols in blood. To any passerby Naruto would have looked crazy kneeling in a halo of light drawing pattern in dirt, however he never concerned himself with people's opinions, much lest those imaginary.

Sighing he smiled wistfully as light once again highlighted the surrounding building, but this time it didn't come from the lighting but from his own handiwork. Naruto watched as the freshly drawn symbols glowed brilliantly before streaking down the road and connecting with another series of symbols and patterns at the intersection. 'finally' he thought to himself.

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><p><strong>In<strong> the middle of Konoha a red tiered building stood. Long the tower stood as the center, a body of strength. Yet, the cracks creating spider webs along the red clay stood as a testament to the discrepancy that now infested the village. However, now as the Hokage stood atop his tower, staring in awe at the glowing streets of his city, He could not help but feel inspired by the very sight. The characters which littered the streets were so complex they swirled in and away from one another, only to twist together, creating a masterpiece of color and line and:

It was so bright.

The streets were once more habited, but this time by images, that danced in streams of chakra. It was a festival of spirits, the sun itself looked to be rising from the decaying village. Luckily the Lighting still cracked in the night sky, covering most of the luminosity, incase nin from other villages happened to see. Shaking his head, the Hokage mused ruefully to himself; it had taken five years, but Naruto had finally done it. Even after all this time it still amazed the Hokage what his student could accomplish.

Looking down at his hands the Hokage brought a scroll up to eye level. One of his subordinates had just finished their debriefing, the last mission had cost konoha one of her ninja, however it was a measly price to pay. In the Hokage's mind, no single ninja could compare to the value of the scroll his hands now held. It was the missing piece, the cherry on top of the big ass piece of proverbial cake (words courtesy of Naruto). Finally after years of suffering and war it would finally be his, the ultimate power deserving of the ultimate village.

It only took a second for his face to twist and pervert into a maniacal leer, uttering one word:

"Victory."

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><p><strong>All reviews will be read and appreciated, complaints and concerns will be taken into account as well. Thank you all for taking the time to read this story. I will try to make each chapter have at least 1000 words. I know it's a slow start, but it will get more "actiony" as time goes by :)<strong>

**I'll draw a picture for anyone who can guess first who the Hokage is by next chapter :)**


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